The Top Travel Apps (that you’ll actually use!)

Wednesday 30th of August 2017

There’s no need to download a bunch of useless gimmicks that will clog up your phone and you’ll never open. Here’s the list of road-savvy applications that will make your travel experience all the better.

1. Monzo

Let’s start with money because let’s face it – it’s pretty important to budget and keep an eye on your money whilst traveling. Monzo is a fairly new start-up company that lets you use your money abroad with instant transactions and no exchange rate fees. Monzo sends you a pre-paid card that you top up whenever you like, from your other bank accounts and lets’ you contactless-ly spend all day long without racking up any overseas charges. You can see on the Monzo app what you’ve spent immediately, there’s no waiting time or ‘pending’ section.

2. Boomerang

This is technically an add-on for the app Instagram. But if you haven’t got Instagram already installed, are you even a camera-phone user?! Instagram is hands down the best photo sharing application out there. It’s kept its top spot despite many of the competition releasing similar apps. And it’s only getting better, with the introduction of Places and Stories it’s now easier than ever to find exciting users and events around you. Now that you can share what’s happening from your exact location, Boomerang is a nifty photography feature that turns your still-life photos into moving, often-hilarious gifs. Perfect for when you’ve spotted something interesting along the road and want to show others on the same route.

3. TripAdvisor

This may sound a little obvious, but surprisingly TripAdvisor’s statistics show that there are still a huge number of users only accessing the site from their computer or laptop. You need to get on their app! Seriously, it’s chock full of information and some of the best reviews out there for places to eat, local attractions, hotels, and all the important stuff. If you’re roadtrippin’ somewhere and need to know the best place to eat, open up the TripAdvisor app and use the Explore feature to find out where to head to or where to avoid! Keep track of all your own hotel stays and recommend to friends and forum users.

4. Airbnb

If you’re one of those who has heard of Airbnb but has never had the guts to actually use it, then what are you waiting for? It’s literally becoming the safest, coolest, cheapest way to explore a new city or area. The app gives you access to unique homes and experiences around the world, letting you book everything you need for your trip. Browse a multitude of locations and options including entire houses, apartments, retreats, lofts, landmarks, or even just a room in somebody’s home. The app lets you browse photos, read all about the accommodation and the host, contact and ask questions and then securely pay and reserve your booking. It runs incredibly sleekly and the only painful bit is uploading your photo ID.

5. Skyscanner

Skyscanner has made flying as easy as clicking a few buttons. Showing you a list of all the airlines’ prices for your chosen dates and destination, you get to pick the best value tickets and choose your seat. Skyscanner’s latest update allows for hotels and car hire to also be included, comparing quotes from various sources to show you the cheapest option. There’s even an ‘Explore Top Deals’ function that lets you browse everywhere for a last-minute great value deal with everything included. They provide quick snapshots of all the important info you might need before booking a hotel like photos, reviews and of course the room rates – saving you a lot of time. Look out for the smiley faces to quickly check your flight’s rating ☺️ This takes into account the flight price, number of stops and duration.

6. Google Translate

You’ll already be familiar with this service as many of us use Google’s Translate service on the web regularly. The benefits of having the app installed are for spoken word and photographs whilst out and about abroad. Your device microphone can translate directly from speech into over 100 languages and you can translate text in images instantly by just pointing your camera. The latest feature to be added is the draw tool, whereby you can draw text characters instead of typing. Very nifty if you’re traveling to a foreign-speaking country and don’t have mobile data.

7. Spotify

Again this is something you’ve most likely got downloaded already – but did you know about the following features? Perfect for those long journeys and road trips, especially when you can download and play your favourite tracks offline.

Song Radio – personalised to match your taste, simply choose your favourite song and Spotify will suggest similar.

Liked Playlists – anytime you use the thumbs up ‘like’ button on a track, it now gets saved to a new playlist of your favourite tunes, all chosen by you.

Collaborative playlists – Team up with your friends and music comrades to create and edit the ultimate playlist. Let others add, delete, and reorder tracks on a playlist you’ve created by making it collaborative.

Concerts – Search for live music nearby. Find out when the artists you love are playing near you, and buy tickets at the touch of a button. Spotify uses your listening habits and location to recommend upcoming concerts you’re sure to enjoy.

8. Roadtrippers

Roadtrippers at first glance just looks like another map tool, but it’s actually a lot better than that. You can enter your destination and Roadtrippers will point out all the best sightseeing spots and places to grab a bite to eat on the way. You can plan and share your trip with others, to get suggestions on where to go or which route is best to take. Quirky roadside attractions, scenic stop-off points plus hidden gems you would never have known about!

9. Urgent.ly

A practical app now, for the sensible and smart road users. This app is like Uber for breakdowns. Your ultimate roadside assistance assistant (try saying that three times fast!). Urgent.ly is a pay-on-demand towing and repair service that you install safely onto your device until the need arises. If your vehicle breaks down on you, the battery dies or you find yourself locked out you press a button on the app and it sends out a sort-of distress signal, giving your exact location and problem. You can then track how far away help is, with real-time dispatch drivers. We’d say this is a must-have app for those traveling by car over long distances, as you never know when you might need it!

10. Easirent

For booking your rental car in three simple clicks. Easirent’s app is the latest and greatest innovation in car hire, allowing you to select your dates and vehicle at the collection and drop-off location of your choice. Real time rates are given for all quotes and discounts can be added right at the checkout. Account users (those who’ve signed up before) get an automatic loyalty discount and have all their card information safely stored to make a one-click checkout as easy as possible. Browse a large variety of different sized cars, from small coupes to large passenger vans and see what specs come as standard. Features include the Manage My Booking section where you can add/remove additional drivers, extend or amend your dates and time (especially handy if you’re going to be late) view which car you’re getting allocated, viewing and redeeming loyalty points and contacting our help team with the touch of a button. Available on Android and IOS.